Tropical oceans and seas around the world offer a unique renewable energy resource. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (“OTEC”) is a manner of producing renewable energy using solar energy stored as heat in the oceans' tropical regions. The OTEC process uses the temperature difference between surface and deep sea tropical waters to drive a heat engine to produce electrical energy. The warm water needed for the OTEC heat engine is found at the surface of the ocean, to a depth of 100 ft or less. The constant source of cold water for cooling the OTEC engine is found at a depth of between 2700 ft and 4200 ft or more. Since such depths are not typically found in close proximity to population centers or even land masses, an offshore power plant is required.
Floating, low heave OTEC power plants having a high efficiency, multi-stage heat exchange systems have been proposed in which the warm and cold water supply conduits and heat exchangers are structurally integrated into a floating platform and used to drive a heat engine. In turn, the heat engine drives a generator, whereby electrical power is obtained.